Just how brazen are they!! Walking down Upper St an hour or so ago (broad daylight, tons of people walking around), I spotted a nice looking Puma Biomega out the front of the Walkabout, then noticed a couple of shady looking characters sitting on the steps nearby... for some reason they piqued my interest as I walked by (I wonder why, maybe it was their big baggy grey tracksuits with hooded jackets and comb down fringes; what is it with this look anyway, does it have a name? Scumbag Casual, something like that?) Anyway, for some reason my mind just went 'watch it, those punks are going to try and nick that bike...'
Sure enough, as I started to cross the street Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum made their move, sauntering over to the bike with intent. I stopped in the middle of the road and turned around to watch Scrote 1 provide cover while Scrote 2 whipped out some teeny little cable cutters from his jackket and set to work on the pathetically inadequate 'Kryptonite Kryptoflex cable lock'...
I wasn't having any of it so started back across the street to challenge them; once they realised the gig was up, did they run away? Hell no, Scrote 2 just kept cutting through the lock, not stopping till I was almost right beside him, then he did the bolt... Was debating whether to make a grab for the little shite as I got near, but probably just as well I didn't, this being London either of them could've had a knife or somesuch 😯
Found the owner of the bike having lunch in the Walkie, gave him a few tips on London bike security (ie. get a ****in big NYC Fuggedaboutit chain lock! and even that won't stop the ****ers 100%!). He did mention that he was told (by the store he bought his brand new bike from) that the Cable Lock would be OK and would be enough to deter thieves... what a crock of crap from a salesperson, bloody criminal really to tell the guy that, practically colluding with the bike thieves!
hmmm... is there a conspiracy here I wonder... sell a new bike with a shite lock, bike subsequently gets nicked, fingers crossed punter comes back to you for the insurance replacement... two sales and double the profit, plus the punter probably spends a tonne more on a better lock! Paranoid? me?
Ah well, that's my good deed for the month, feel good that I have thwarted the powers of evil for a brief moment at least! 8)
Well done for actually giving enough of a s*** to do something about it rather than walking on by. May karma be your friend!
Yeah.....good on you.
psychle - good on you! it would be great if more people like you were around!
one time while i came out of work to find i had a flat so fixed it and sat there pumping up my tyre,
some guy came over and made a grab for me, he confused my pumping action (oo err) for a sawing action and thought i was cutting a lock
i still said thanks for doing the right thing though, wouldnt want to deter him next time
well done psychle
Bear in mind that those Puma bikes are even more Nathan Barley than a fixie! As such, the shop that sold it may well not be quite as clued up as a [i]real[/i] bike shop!
That said, good on you! (Shall we talk cricket now? 😉 )
Cricket is looking OK... 261 is a reasonably challenging score to chase down 🙂
A friend of mine had a massive lock on his Marin that he'd locked up outside a pub. So, the thieving gits took everything attached to the frame. Literally. I think the only bits that were left with the frame were the cranks/chain/rear mech/front mech & headset!
There was CCTV, but they did it by parking a van up real close on the pavement and working behind it!!
What's the penalty for these punks if they get nicked? I'm guessing a slap on the wrist is all?
Good on you. But don't call them punks....punks are cool!